12 killed in southern clashes

At least a dozen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in fighting which broke out earlier this week near the town of Qoryoley, 130 km southwest of Mogadishu, local sources told IRIN on Thursday.

The fighting was concentrated in the villages of Manay Murug, Bandar and Dharshinley, all on the banks of the Shabelle river, west of Qoryoley. The clashes, which first broke out on Tuesday, involved the Jido and Rer Shabelle clans, and fighting was reportedly still raging on Thursday. Muhammad Usman Gutale, a resident of Qoryoley, said the villages of Bandar (Rer Shabelle) and Dharshinley (Jido) were burned. "We could see the flames from Qoryoley, seven kilometres away," he said.

The dead included at least five children and two women, who drowned after the boat they were using to escape the fighting capsized in the Shabelle river, Muhammad said. Most of the dead were from the Rer Shabelle clan, he added.

The fighting reportedly started when livestock, belonging to the Jido, strayed onto farms of the Rer Shabelle and destroyed their harvest. "This is not a new thing. The two sides have fought over farms and livestock before, but never like this," Muhammad told IRIN.

He said area elders, including elders from other clans, were now engaged in mediation efforts. Somalia's Transitional National Government had also dispatched a military contingent from the coastal town of Marka, 100 km south of Mogadishu, to contain the situation.